CASELIBRARY Report Summary

CASELIBRARY: library services interface toolset

The project developed a modular toolset enabling library staff to set up user interfaces corresponding to their particular needs. A modular expert system server permits configuration of user access through interchangeable communications objects. The user is not held to any particular commercial system but is given the ability to integrate all the services needed in a single customised interface. Particular attention has been paid to the need for control of access in large academic libraries. A set of software tools specifically required by the library community has thus been created for multiplatform, multidatabase information access systems based on modern graphical user interfaces (GUI).The CaseLibrary tools have been developed using routines which are portable to most existing systems while fully exploiting the advantages to GUIs. Their design allows future services to include Campus Wide Information Systems (CWIS), z39.50 and World Wide Web, and to allow access to a broader range of information services. Unlike many currently available toolsets, the products are carefully directed at the library community and are thus likely to have a significant impact. Although academic libraries have been targeted, the toolset design permits migration to other library types, systems and platforms.